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State Record: Pimlico’s Rainbow 6 Carryover Grows To $625,866 For Saturday Card

After going unsolved Friday, the Maryland state record carryover jackpot in the 20-cent Rainbow 6 reached $625,866.27 for Saturday's nine-race program at Pimlico Race Course.

Post time is 12:40 p.m.

No horses were live to take down the jackpot heading into Friday's ninth-race finale. A total of $85,485 was bet into the popular multi-race wager, which began with a carryover of $598,522.24 from Thursday. Multiple tickets with all six winners were each worth $1,000.38.

The Rainbow 6 jackpot is paid out only when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 60 percent of that day's pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners while 40 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool.

Introduced in Maryland April 2, 2015 on opening day of Pimlico's spring meet, the Rainbow 6 had its previous state record carryover reach $345,898.33 spanning 31 racing programs before being solved by one lucky bettor for a life-changing $399,545.94 payout April 15, 2018 at Laurel Park. The winning ticket was purchased through Maine off-track betting.

Saturday's Rainbow 6 sequence begins in Race 4 (2:08 p.m.), a 1 1/16-mile claiming event for fillies and mares 3 and up which have never won two races. Race 8 (4:15 p.m.) is a six-furlong allowance sprint for Maryland-bred/sired females 3 and older that drew a field of seven led by 7-5 program favorite Whispering Pines, third by a length in the seven-furlong Conniver March 13 at Laurel Park and most recently second in an open 6 ½-furlong allowance April 22 at Belmont Park racing first time for trainer Horacio DePaz.

Notes: Winston Pegg ($37.60) came off the fence in mid-stretch under jockey Leonardo Corujo to spring a 17-1 upset in Friday's Race 7, a 1 1/16-mile maiden special weight for horses 3, 4 and 5 on the grass, giving Fair Hill, Md.-based owner-trainer Damian Towler his first victory in five career starts. Four of them have come with Winston Pegg, a 5-year-old South Carolina-bred gelding who completed the distance in 1:43.92 … In Friday's other maiden special weight, Stuart Janney III homebred Hightailing ($6.20), making her eighth career start and third off a 1 ½-year layoff, powered down the center of the turf course to edge Lemon Drop Kiss by a neck and win Race 5 for females 3, 4 and 5, in 1:38.39 for one mile. Hightailing, 5, was ridden by Forest Boyce and is trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey

Friday's featured ninth-race finale saw four-time stakes-placed Sky's Not Falling ($9.80) surge past pacesetting Forced in mid-stretch and draw clear to win the five-furlong allowance for 3-year-olds and up in 57.14 seconds over a firm turf course. It was the third win of the day for jockey Victor Carrasco and trainer Mike Trombetta, who also teamed up with Sheriff's Kid ($3.60) in Race 3 and Self Awareness ($2.40) in Race 4.

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Jessica Paquette To Handle On-Air Handicapping Duties At Colonial Downs This Summer

When Colonial Downs begins its third season of Thoroughbred racing under the ownership of the Colonial Downs Group on July 19, fans will see a new face on camera who provides selections and insight into each upcoming race from the paddock area.

Jessica Paquette, long time handicapper at Suffolk Downs and most recently Sam Houston, will make her debut in New Kent replacing Merv Huber, who is unable to travel to Colonial Downs this season but will stay on as morning line odds maker and provide guest analysis.

The 36-year-old Lowell, Massachusetts native is excited to be part of the Colonial Downs team, and the track's signature racing surface is a big reason why.

“I've heard the Secretariat Turf Course is the best grass surface in the country, and it's my favorite kind of racing. Being able to talk about beautiful pedigrees on a great grass course just lights my soul on fire. Turf is a much more specific surface than dirt. Some horses will love it and some will only take to that specific course.”

Colonial is known for having large fields that compete on grass, but Paquette seems unfazed by the challenge of picking winners for viewers. “I'm a real pedigree nerd,” she said. “With grass races, you can find horses with hidden turf pedigrees that just jump up and surprise you. I'll provide insights during the paddock show on specific horse flesh I notice. I'm a day-to-day horse person. I'll be getting a sense of the barns on site and watching patterns. I'll be familiarizing myself with the trainer colony. I'll be taking a lot of notes. I think you can stumble across a lot of nice horses that way.”

Growing up, Paquette's parents did not have a background or interest in horses, so her equine passion began with participation in the 'Kids to the Cup' program as a young teenager. She never looked back.

“Once I got involved in 'Kids to the Cup' (KTTC) 25 years ago, it changed my life. It put me on the path to get where I am today. I was a nerdy horse crazy kid back then and I just fell in love with racing during that golden era of the '90's when Silver Charm and Skip Away were racing. It just captivated me. Nothing fills me with as much joy as being at a racetrack and being up close,” she added. “No matter what breed, I love watching all horses turn left.””

From KTTC, she started out as a hotwalker at Rockingham Park, then went on to work as a mutuels clerk and followed that with an internship in the publicity department. After those experiences, she landed another internship at Suffolk Downs and never left. Paquette spent the next 14 years at Suffolk where she rose through the ranks to become Senior VP of Marketing and an on camera personality and handicapper.

Suffolk closed its doors for good in June, 2019 after 84 years in business. Rockingham previously closed in 2016. Both closures hit Paquette hard.

“As a fan, I watched Rockingham close and it was heartbreaking. It was the first place I saw a live horse race. At Suffolk, I was helping run the place so mourning the loss of something I Ioved so much was tough but I had to be professional about it. The day still had to go on. Putting on a public face when your heart is being ripped to pieces was challenging. We sent the old girl off the best way we could,” Paquette added. “The last day was a celebration. I watched the last race from the roof by myself. Those are memories I'll take with me the rest of my life.”

Since Suffolk closed, Paquette served as on camera handicapper for the Sam Houston thoroughbred meet this past winter. In a Covid-pandemic environment, she performed the job remotely, from a studio she set up in her closet. And in March, she became the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation's Director of Communications & the Annual Fund. The position allows her to work from home in the Northern Shore of Massachusetts where she owns two Off Track Thoroughbreds.

What A Trippi, retired now from success in the show ring — which came after collecting 9 wins in 42 starts as a racehorse — occupies some of her home time now along with Puget Sound, who after 84 starts is enjoying time as a “pasture ornament” according to Paquette.

“Those two fill my day every day,” she said. “Aftercare is the most important thing to me. I'm grateful to be in a position to be able to give back professionally. Every good thing in my life has come from horses so giving back means a lot. I think thoroughbreds are the greatest athletes. They can do anything you ask of them, as long as you ask them correctly.” Colonial Downs and the VHBPA contribute $15 each to the TAA for every start during the race meet.

Paquette will arrive in New Kent on July 15 and go on camera from the paddock around 1:30 PM four days later. “After giving my picks remotely, I can't wait to see horses again in person.”

Colonial's season will continue through September 1 with racing every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 1:45 PM. The $250,000 New Kent County Virginia Derby (Gr. 3) highlights meet festivities on Tuesday August 31. Paquette not only gets to provide selections for all races held over the 180-foot-wide turf course and 1 1/4 miles dirt track, she gets to work with some of her best friends as well.

“I was in 'Kids to the Cup' with Merv Huber when we were horse crazy wild-eyed children and we've been friends since. Jason Beem (Colonial track announcer) is one of my best friends. And I'm looking forward to working with Jill Byrne (Colonial VP of Racing) who I have so much respect for. She is a pioneer in racing and an inspiration. I'm just really excited for this opportunity,” she added. “When racing in Suffolk ended in 2019, it was easy to think that your best days are behind you when the thing you love most goes away. Not so any more.”

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Saturday’s Cross Country Pick 5 Features Stakes Action From Belmont, Churchill

The New York Racing Association Inc. [NYRA] will host a Cross Country Pick 5 on Saturday featuring stakes action from both Belmont Park and Churchill Downs.

Free Equibase past performances for the Cross Country Pick 5 sequence are now available for download at https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/cross-country-wagers.

Belmont will host the first two legs, starting with the $100,000 Seek Again for 4-year-olds and up going one mile on the Widener turf in Race 9 at 5:12 p.m. Eastern. Grade 1-winner Decorated Invader will headline the field, with the Christophe Clement trainee, who won the 2020 Grade 2 Pennine Ridge and the Grade 2 Hall of Fame, facing talented competition.

Among those contenders will be Get Smokin, who started his 4-year-old campaign with a three-quarter length score in the Grade 3 Tampa Bay going 1 1/16 miles on February 6.

Trainer Chad Brown will send out a pair of contenders, with Delaware, who won the Danger's Hour at Aqueduct last month to mark his first North American win in seven starts since arriving from Europe in 2019, and Flavius, who ran second to Count Again in the Grade 2 Seabiscuit Handicap in November at Del Mar.

Belmont's 10th race finale at 5:44 p.m. will see a field of filly and mare maiden claimers 3-years-old and up compete at 1 1/16 miles on the inner turf. The hard-luck Emma and I, who has ran second by a neck in both of her last two starts, has been knocking on the door for trainer James Ryerson, with three runner-up finishes and two third-place efforts in seven career starts. Emma and I earned a field-best 60 Beyer Speed Figure last out going 1/16 miles on May 1 over the Belmont turf, marking her first start on grass after her three previous outings were on the main track.

Night racing at Churchill will comprise the final three legs, with a 1 1/16-mile main track maiden special weight slated for Race 7 at 9:05 p.m. Closet Shopper, a $600,000 purchase at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, has twice placed in five career starts, with the Gregory Foley trainee running third last out on April 9 going one mile at Keeneland. Foley will also send out Kizzy B, 0-5-2 in 10 career races, but has earned placings in three consecutive starts.

A one-mile allowance optional claiming tilt will be the wager's penultimate contest in Race 8 at 9:39 p.m. Finnick the Fierce, who was on the early 2020 Triple Crown trail with a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby and later a seventh-place finish in the Grade 2 Blue Grass in July. Finnick the Fierce ran seventh in a turf optional claimer last out on April 30 at Churchill but will be returning to the main track on Saturday.

The Cross Country Pick 5 finale will showcase the $110,000 Keertana for older fillies and mares going 1 1/2 miles on the turf set for Race 9 at 10:11 p.m. Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott will send out Delta's Kingdom, who has twice finished as the runner-up in graded stakes competition in the Grade 3 Bewitch last out in April at Keeneland and the Grade 3 La Prevoyante in January at Gulfstream Park sandwiched around a fourth-place effort in the Grade 3 Orchid in March in Florida. The field also includes Silverton Hill's homebred Pass the Plate, who finished a neck behind Delta's Kingdom in the Bewitch at Keeneland when stretching out to 1 ½ miles for the first time.

The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available on ADW platforms and at simulcast facilities across the country. Every week will feature a mandatory payout of the net pool.

The Cross Country Pick 5 will continue each Saturday throughout the year. For more information, visit NYRABets.com.

Cross Country Pick 5 – Saturday, May 22:
Leg A: Belmont– Race 9, Seek Again (5:12 p.m.)
Leg B: Belmont – Race 10 (5:44 p.m.)
Leg C: Churchill – Race 7 (9:05 p.m.)
Leg D: Churchill – Race 8 (9:39 p.m.)
Leg E: Churchill – Race 9, Keertana (10:11 p.m.)

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Beyer: ‘Almost Any Serious Horseplayer’ Can Recognize Performances Which ‘Defy Handicapping Logic’

Horseplayer and turfwriter Andrew Beyer, creator of the revolutionary “Beyer” speed figures and 40-year industry veteran, spoke to the Thoroughbred Racing Commentary this week to share his views on the biggest challenge facing horse racing today.

“The biggest challenge facing the sport today is the same one that I wrote about for much of my newspaper career: the widespread use of illegal drugs,” Beyer said. “Almost any serious horseplayer can look at the form of certain trainers' horses and recognize that their performances defy handicapping logic. The cheating trainers and vets have made cynics out of the horseplayers, who should love this game without reservation.”

For more about Beyer, check out John Scheinman's Eclipse Award-winning feature from 2016: Andrew Beyer: Rebel With A Cause.

Beyer himself won an Eclipse Award of Merit in 2017.

Read more at the Thoroughbred Racing Commentary.

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